Isfahan University of Medical SciencesResearch in Pharmaceutical Sciences1735-53627420120416The effects of methanolic, chloroform, and ethylacetate extracts of the Cucurbita pepo L. on the delay type hypersensitivity and antibody production217224EN2011090820120416<p>Pumpkin, as a dietary plant, has been used in traditional medicine around the world. In addition, during the last decade, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, antitumor, intestinal antiparasitic, antibacterial, anti hypercholesterolemia, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and analgic effects of pumpkin has been reported. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of different extracts of <em>Cucurbita pepo</em> L. on the immune responses. Methanolic, chloroform and ethylacetate extracts of <em>C. pepo</em> fruits was obtained using percolation method. Mice were used to study the effects of<em> C. pepo</em> extracts on the acquired immunity. Sheep red blood cell (SRBC) was injected (S.C., 1&times;10<sup>8 </sup>cells/ml, 20 ml) and 5 days later, methanolic, chloroform and ethylacetate extracts of <em>C. pepo</em> at diiferent doses (10, 100 and 500 mg/kg), betamethasone and levamisol at equal doses (4 mg/kg) as positive controls and normal saline as a negative control were given i.p. After 1 h SRBC was injected to the footpad (S.C., 1&times;10<sup>8 </sup>cells/ml, 20 ml) and the footpad swelling was measured up to 72 h. To investigate the effects of <em>C. pepo</em> on the innate immunity the same procedure was used, but animals received only one injection of SRBC 1 h after i.p. injection of test compounds. Our findings showed that SRBC induced an increase in the paw swelling with maximum response at 6-8 h. Betamethasone inhibited the paw swelling in both models. In both innate and acquired immunity models, methanolic, chloroform and ethylacetate extracts of <em>C. pepo</em> fruits significantly reduced the paw swelling dose dependently. The data suggest that the pumpkin extracts may have immunomodulatory effects.&nbsp;</p>http://rps.mui.ac.ir/index.php/jrps/article/view/264http://rps.mui.ac.ir/index.php/jrps/article/download/264/338